A letter to the editor of the Whitewater Register detailed six Wisconsin Open Meetings Law violations by three different Town of Palmyra board members.
The letter appeared in the Oct. 2, 2025 issue of the Register. According to the letter written by Town of Palmyra resident Laura Lowrey:
Recently a case of Town Board members failing to comply with Wisconsin State Statues was brought before the Jefferson County Circuit Court: Case Number 2024CV000437 (which was verified by Southern Lakes Newspapers staffers).
In October 2024, the Town of Palmyra Board of Supervisors – Frank Sauter, Rob Martens and Josh Gajewski – had six Open Meeting Violation complaints filed against them.
The alleged violations occurred during 2023 and included one meeting in which the town board talked about an item not listed on the agenda, improper closed meeting notices, a meeting that Sauter and Martens attended together without proper notice, and town business discussed over email.
Throughout 2025 the lawyers on both sides conducted discovery and deposed witnesses. Each side requested summary judgment, not a Circuit Court trial, and it was determined Judge William Gruber would render a decision in September 2025. On Sept. 17, Gruber decided that:
- Complaint #1 was not ripe for any dispositive decision, so it was set aside for a possible trial or settlement. This was the meeting that Sauter and Martens attended together without proper notice.
- Complaint #2 — The public would not have been properly apprised of the discussion that the town board was going to have about the Bobcat lease agreement, so the plaintiff is entitled to a summary judgment.
- Complaint #3-#5 – The closed session notices were defective and were an improper use of a closed session and are therefore unlawful. They did not inform the public of what would be discussed or acted on, so plaintiff is entitled to a summary judgment.
- Complaint #6 – At the hearing regarding remedies and forfeitures, the court will provide a decision on the complaint that town business was discussed over email exchanges. This hearing date is to be determined.
“The judge made his decision based on the facts of the case, which included witness depositions, town board meeting agendas and minutes, videos of board meetings and a video of a police interview. The judge said that this town board ignored the advice that was available to them from the Wisconsin Towns Association, and from the town lawyer and clerk that they had at the time of the infractions,” Lowrey wrote. “Let’s hope that they have learned and will listen to reason in the future and will follow State Statutes.”
